Serenity awaits the nature lover at the Choctaw Lodge Bed and Breakfast

Bed and Breakfast located on the Choctawhatchee River

Contact Kathryn Hardy – (850) 835-1784 choctawlodgeretreat.com

When Ron and Kathryn Hardy of Panama City Beach walked into Sandi’s Feed and Seed in Lynn Haven back in 2009, they had little idea about how dramatically their lives were about to change.

Spotting a small index card on a bulletin board with a message “Riverfront Property For Sale,” the couple decided to find out more about an area they knew little about, the Choctawhatchee River.

Both of them grew up as “river rats,” according to Kathryn, who grew up along the Ocmulgee River in southeast Georgia and Ron near the Tensaw River in the Mobile River Delta in Alabama. After marrying, the couple would frequently go all the way to the Mobile area for their river weekend getaways.

The property for sale had nothing more than a small singlewide trailer situated right along the river. It did however, have a great porch with a spectacular view, and the couple were immediately taken – hook, line and sinker. They purchased the property and began spending every weekend on the river. Click here to continue

———-

Play it safe when recreating in fresh and brackish water

The onset of warm weather in the spring is when Florida’s alligators and crocodiles start getting active, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) reminds Floridians and visitors to be cautious when having fun in and around water.

Florida is home to two native crocodilians: the American alligator, which is found in all 67 counties, and the American crocodile, which may be found in coastal areas of the Keys, Southeast and Southwest Florida. Both species have shared Florida’s waters with people for centuries.

The FWC recommends keeping pets away from the water. There are other precautionary measures people should take to reduce potential conflicts with alligators and crocodiles, and they are available in the “Living with Alligators” brochure.

Click here to download brochure
The FWC advises if you have concerns with an alligator or crocodile that poses a threat to you, your pets or property, call the FWC’s Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (392-4286).

Alligators and crocodiles are an important part of Florida’s heritage and play a valuable role in the ecosystems where they live. For more information on alligators and crocodiles, visit MyFWC.com/Alligator.  Click here to continue

- – - – - – - – - – - -

Sandhill crane visitors a welcome sight for local bird lovers

Clara Pittman of North Walton County looks forward to the special wintering guests she enjoys watching arrive in late fall. For the last five years, sandhill cranes have been migrating to the wetlands near her home just south of Lake Jackson in North Walton.

Typically arriving in mid-December and staying until mid-March, the cranes are a welcome sight, and have been flocking to the area in large numbers.

“I have seen as many a three dozen in the wetlands; I enjoy watching them,” Clara said.

With a wingspan of up to 78 inches and standing more than 3 feet tall, the sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) is one of the largest birds in North America. There are several subspecies of the sandhill crane with the Lesser Sandhill (Northern) migrating from the northern U.S. and the Greater Sandhill (Southern) year-round residents in southern Florida. Click here to continue

- – - – - – - – - – - -

Choctawhatchee Audubon Society explores ivory-billed woodpecker habitat in Walton County

Choctawhatchee River Basin provides excellent birding opportunities

The existence of the ivory-billed woodpecker has been a disputed subject for many years. Thought to be on the brink of extinction since the 1940s, there has not been a documented sighting since 2005. However, the largest woodpecker in North America has been the quest of many a birder both on an amateur and academic level.

If the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker (IBWO) exists, the Choctawhatchee River basin in Walton County is the perfect habitat to explore the possibilities. An alluvial river, the Choctawhatchee River is characterized by a broad floodplain and seasonal flooding. Its old growth bottomland hardwood forests has drawn ornithologists searching for the IBWO for several years.

In 2005, Dr. Geoffrey E. Hill, Auburn University ornithology professor, and two research assistants, Tyler Hicks and Brian Rolek, took a kayak trip down the river. Within an hour of launching their boats, they heard a bird hammering loudly on a tree. When the bird flew off through the canopy, Brian got a clear view of a large woodpecker with white on both the upper and underside of the trailing edge of the wings; a unique characteristic of the IBWO. Although members of the search group are convinced that ivory-billed woodpeckers persist in the swamp forests along the Choctawhatchee River, they conceded that the evidence fell short of definitive. Definitive evidence must come in the form of clear, indisputable film, digital image, or video image of an IBWO. They continue their studies on the river to this day.  Click here to continue

- – - – - – - – - – - -

Living alongside wildlife: Searching for the indigo snake in Walton County

 

It was Monday morning and Tropical Storm Ida was welcoming us to the new week. As the early chills of fall enveloped us, dark clouds gathered in the distance, ominously blocking out the sun. Perhaps seeing the look of concern on my face, Dirk Stevenson consoled me,

“No worries, the indigos won’t mind.”

Dirk is the Director for Inventory and Monitoring for Project Orianne, a large non-profit organization dedicated to conserving the eastern indigo snake where they remain and restoring populations to areas where they have disappeared. Dirk was to be my field companion for the day, accompanying me to my field site in the Florida panhandle. He hoped to establish whether indigo snakes, often locally known as gopher snakes, still persisted in the area, despite the lack of a confirmed sighting in over ten years.
Read More…

- – - – - – - – - – - -

Local naturalist tags monarch
butterflies for migration study

Joe Wyatt, naturalist at Hammock Bay in Freeport has been tagging Monarch butterflies for three years as part of a migration study with the University of Kansas.

So far in this year’s study, Joe has tagged 68, finding the majority of the fluttering beauties feasting on Saltwater False-Willow, Narrowleaf Baccharis (Baccharis angustifolia) along the north shoreline of Choctawhatchee Bay in Choctaw Beach.

Unlike most other insects in temperate climates, monarch butterflies cannot survive a long cold winter. Instead, they spend the winter in roosting spots. Monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains fly farther south to the forests high in the mountains of Mexico. The monarch’s migration is driven by seasonal changes. Day length and temperature changes influence the movement of the monarch. Click to continue

- – - – - – - – - – - -

Living with Florida black bears

The presence of bears is not necessarily a problem or a threat to your safety. For many people seeing a black bear is a thrilling, rewarding experience.

Problems arise when bears have access to food sources unintentionally made available by people such as pet foods, garbage, barbecue grills, bird seed or livestock feed. Bears are adaptable and learn very quickly to associate people with food. Black bears are normally too shy to risk contact with humans, but their strong food drive can overwhelm these instincts.

The Florida black bear is a unique subspecies of the American black bear, and is listed as a threatened species in Florida and is the state’s largest land mammal. Black bears once ranged throughout Florida but now live in several fragmented areas across the state.

Since the 1980s, the black bear population has been expanding along with our human population. Florida has grown from 5 million residents in 1960 to close to 18 million today and is projected to reach almost 36 million by 2060. Urban sprawl is encroaching on traditionally remote areas and bringing people into prime bear habitat. As a result bears and people are encountering each other more than ever.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has a wildlife alert number and also encourages state visitors and residents to contact FWC Regional Offices for assistance on what to do if they see a bear. Now that the populations of bears and humans have increased and outreach efforts have made these resources more widely known, the bear-related calls have reached a record number with 2,674 in 2007.  Many of these calls are simply sightings or reports of a sick or injured bear, but many report problems such as a bear in the garbage, a bear at the birdfeeder or other property damage.

Read More…

- – - – - – - – - – - -

Bluebird breeding program success at Hammock Bay

Spring brings full house to 55 bluebird boxes

Spring brings a full house to all 55 bluebird boxes at Hammock Bay in Freeport.

This is the fourth season Joe Wyatt, naturalist at Hammock Bay, has been running a bluebird breeding program for these beautiful indigenous birds.

The success has been quite good. There were 297 fledglings in 2009 and this year Joe is hopeful to have the same success.

It takes 14 days to incubate, and 17 to fledgling after they hatch. The cold winter had a the nesting running about 2-3 weeks behind, and the bluebirds lined many of the nests with sphagnum moss for additional insulation.

One of the nests is occupied with nine Carolina chickadee chicks which is quite unusual.

“Typically, a chickadee will only lay about 4-5 eggs,” Joe said. It looks like one pair of chickadees doubled up this year!

———

A guide to Florida snakes

Florida has an abundance of wildlife, including a wide variety of reptiles. Snakes, and their cousins the alligators, crocodiles, turtles and lizards, play an interesting and vital role in Florida’s complex ecology. Many people have an uncontrollable fear of snakes. Perhaps because man is an animal who stands upright, he has developed a deep-rooted aversion to all crawling creatures. And, too, snakes long have been use in folklore to symbolize falseness and evil. The ill- starred idea has no doubt colored human feelings regarding snakes. Whatever the reason for disfavor, they nonetheless occupy a valuable place in the fauna of the region. Click here to continue

- – - – - – - – - – - -

Ugh… the dog flies have arrived in the Florida Panhandle

When fall comes to our area, those refreshing weather fronts will move through from the north bringing lower humidity, lower temperatures and the infamous dog fly. The stable fly, known as the dog fly in Northwest Florida, is a blood feeding fly that is a nuisance to man, pets, and livestock. From August through November the dog fly congregates on the Florida Panhandle beaches. This fly originates from farming areas in southern Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and northern Florida and rides the northerly winds associated with cold fronts that move through our area. Click here to continue

- – - – - – - – - – - –

Keep up with what’s happening with the sea turtles!

- – - – - – - – - – - -

It’s that time of year again, and those blood-thirsty yellow flies are here… here are some tips for armoring yourself

In Florida, the name “yellow fly” is used to describe about a dozen different species of yellow-bodied biting flies. “Yellow flies” readily attack man and are usually abundant in Florida with peak annoyance occurring in May and June. “Yellow flies” are in the family known as Tabanidae. All tabanids go through an egg, larva, pupa and adult stage, referred to as “complete metamorphosis,” the same development process that mosquitoes go through. Tabanids lay egg masses containing 50 to several hundred eggs. Most species deposit their eggs around ponds, streams or swamps on overhanging vegetation such as grasses or cattails. Click here to continue

 

- – - – - – - – - – - -

Bears wreak havoc, force beekeeper to install electric fences

 

Local beekeeper Earl Barrett is not happy. Local black bears have been raiding his beehives in the Pt. Washington State Forest this season, forcing him to put up electric fences to protect his hives. As he worked on putting up a fence off of CR 83 in Santa Rosa Beach on May 27, Barrett said with a bit of frustration, “this is the third location of boxes I’ve had to fence in.”

“The bears only need to hit the fence once,” Barrett said, as he explained that it only takes one jolt to deter the sweet seekers from coming back.

The family has approximately 350 beehives, down from more than 1,200 from years ago, and house their production operation off of Old Ferry Road.

Click here to continue

- – - – - – - – - – - -

A look at the dedicated volunteers that nurse injured wildlife back to health 

 

Ever wonder what to do if you found an injured bird, turtle or squirrel? As we edge closer to spring, this could be the case, as sometimes young are found abandoned, or a baby bird has fallen from a nest. It is comforting to know that there is help available, and there are two groups in the Walton area that are able to nurse the animal back to health.

Click here to continue